Dividend investors have faced a pretty challenging environment over the past few years, as historically low interest rates have seen a lot of money shift out of bonds and into dividend stocks, making yield even harder to find. For a lot of people, this leads down the path of investing in high-yield stocks, often at much higher risk than they realize, such as struggling companies that end up cutting their payouts.
But that doesn't mean all high-yield stocks are high-risk and should be avoided. Three Motley Fool investors have identified Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP), DSW Inc. (NYSE:DSW), and AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) as three high-yield stocks very much worth buying. You may find higher yields out there than the 4% these three pay, but these companies offer investors a measure of safety and prospects for growth those higher-yield stocks may not have. Keep reading to learn how they might fit in your portfolio.